Photo: Bjoertvedt · CC BY-SA 3.0Aurora has 7.6 miles of mapped trails, 2.1 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Sport Park (0.5 mi). 73% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 25 acres are parks and preserves, 14 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Aurora?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Aurora have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Aurora is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns. Trail miles hold the grade up; conserved land pulls it down.
Water is 5% of Aurora’s area (0 of 4 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read under 1%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Sport Park, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Superior National Forest
12 conserved acres
1% of Aurora’s land. Water is left out: Aurora has 3.7 square miles of land and 0.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Aurora’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superior National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 12 | Open |
3 places to go in Aurora
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 named trail
3.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The walking year in Aurora
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.6 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 8.5 |
| High (°F) | 17 | 23 | 37 | 51 | 65 | 74 | 78 | 76 | 67 | 52 | 35 | 22 |
| Rain (in) | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
February is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 78 °F). 4.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Aurora →
Questions about parks and trails in Aurora
Where can I hike in Aurora?
The longest trail networks: Sport Park, 0.5 miles; Superior National Forest, 0.2 miles; Central Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Aurora is conserved land?
1% of its land, against a typical 5% for a Minnesota town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Aurora’s trails?
Sport Park and Superior National Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Aurora?
3.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Aurora?
66,978 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Aurora or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 36 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Aurora have?
Ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Aurora neighbors.
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →